What are the 28 companies active in Greek coastal shipping?

By Anastasia Vamvaka

In 2022, 100 coastal ships serve 115 islands of the country daily, either connecting them to the mainland or making connections between them. Most – especially these days – depart with occupancy that reaches 100%, however the bet – despite the data for record tourist traffic – is that the revenue from the increased passenger traffic will not be compensated by the also increased operating costs.

The passenger traffic figures for 2021 are also of interest, as especially on lines such as Crete and the Dodecanese the increase reached three-digit percentages.

Coast lines	2020	2021	Difference
Late Saronic	1,252,141	1,600,690	28%
Piraeus – Peloponnese	39,238	52,914	34%
Piraeus – Crete	1,008,048	1,191,120	18%
Piraeus Crete – Dodecanese	68,859	306.193	345%
Piraeus – Dodecanese	485,860	588,974	21%
Piraeus Western Cyclades	527,341	914,231	73%
Piraeus Eastern Cyclades	951,820	1,825,150	92%
Piraeus- Mykonos- Tinos- Samos	699,457	643,908	-8%
Piraeus-Chios Mytilini	309,941	437,503	41%
Piraeus – Akarnania – Ionian Islands	310,198	415,491	34%
Rafina- Evia- Andros- Tinos	934,050	1,527,804	64%
Volos-Sporades-Kymis	423.143	663,924	54%
Zakynthos – Kyllini	486,616	671,027	38%
Kyllini- Poros Kefallonia	296,967	360,195	21%
Others	1,116,929	1,647,247	47%
Total	8,919,608	12,846,371	44%

Source: XRTC Ltd

According to the study by XRTC, which specializes in maritime financing and the provision of consulting services, 28 companies are currently active in Greece, which are categorized according to the type of their ships and their characteristics into large, medium and small.

Big Companies

This category includes the ANEK group, the ATTICA group, and the MINOIK group. The 43 ships of the three major Companies are the pillars of the market since they transport passengers and above all most of the cargo to and from the islands. They cover throughout the year the needs of the inhabitants of the island country uninterruptedly with large passenger/ferry ships whose average length is 145m. Since 2015 their fleet has not fluctuated. In the last 3 years, it has a constant number of 43 ships, while their average age rises steadily, reaching 23 years.

The business models of which are analyzed as follows:

The ANEK Group consists of:
• the Parent Company ANEK S.A. (passenger shipping branch),
• AEGEAN PELAGOS SEA LINES SHIPPING COMPANY (passenger shipping branch),
• the APOKORONA PROVINCE DEVELOPMENT COMPANY S.A. (production and distribution of bottled water – water bottling sector),
• LEFKA ORI S.A.V.E. (standardization and marketing of agricultural products and packaging – industry branch),
• the ANEK TOURIST – HOTEL – HOLDING COMPANY (tourism, provision of consulting services, etc. – tourism industry),
• ANEK LINES ITALIA Srl (agency and representation of shipping companies – tourism sector).

The company ATTICA ANONYMOS HOLDINGS COMPANY with distinctive title “ATTICA GROUP” or ATTICA group, is purely a Holding Company and as a holding company has no activity. The company through its subsidiaries is active in passenger shipping.

The MINOIK group consists of the company MINOIKES GRAMMES ANE and its subsidiary Minoan Italia SpA The companies ANEK S.A. and ATTICA JOINT STOCK COMPANY are listed on the Hellenic Stock Exchange while MINOIKES GRAMMES is part of the Italian Grimaldi group.

TABLE 1: MAJOR SHIPPING COMPANIES (FLEET & TRAFFIC)

COMPANIES	NUMBER OF VESSELS	PASSENGER MOVEMENT	VEHICLE MOVEMENT	TRUCK MOVEMENT
ATTICA GROUP	30	4,400,000	870,000	370,000
MINOAN LINES	4	724,000	162,000	82,000
ANEK	9	652,000	183,000	133,000
Total 2021	43	5,776,000	1,215,000	585,000
Total 2020	43	3,626,129	640,805	498,408
Percentage change		59%	90%	17%

Source: XRTC Ltd

Operations’ Circle

The total Turnover of the three companies increased by 20% in 2021 and stands at €565.6 million from €472.3 million in 2020
ATTICA group’s turnover strengthened and reached €347.91 million for the 2021 financial year compared to a turnover of €290.40 million in the 2020 financial year, despite being affected throughout the year by the COVID pandemic -19 with restrictions on passenger movements as well as the application of a reduced passenger protocol on ships. The better performance recorded in the transportation project and the subsequent increase in turnover during the 2021 fiscal year are indications of a gradual normalization of the group’s operations.

In particular, by geographical sector, turnover is as follows:
• In Hellenic Shipping, the turnover in the 2021 financial year amounted to €263.32 million compared to €218.89 million in the 2020 financial year.
• In International Shipping, turnover in fiscal year 2021 amounted to €84.59 million compared to €71.51 million in fiscal year 2020.

It is pointed out that the turnover, and in particular in the geographical sector “Hellenic Shipping”, includes subsidies for the execution of routes of internal Public Service lines, as well as subsidies for ensuring the maritime transport service of island areas, due to the Covid-19 pandemic, in a total amount of €38 .31 million (€46.34 million in 2020). In the geographic sector “International Shipping” are included revenues from ship leases amounting to €5.7 million in fiscal year 2021 (€7.4 million in fiscal year 2020).

The turnover of the ANEK LINES group for the year 2021 amounted to €150.0 million compared to €124.5 million in the year 2020, showing an increase of 21%, i.e. €25.5 million. The revenue from the domestic shipping activities amounted to €44.2 million compared to €40.0 million in the previous year and from foreign shipping activities amounted to €93.3 million compared to €75.2 million, while revenues from other activities amounted to €12 .5 million in 2021 compared to €9.2 million in 2020.

In MINOIKES the turnover from continuing activities showed an increase of €10.2 million and amounted to €67.7 million compared to €57.4 million in the 2019 financial year.

Net Results

The loss-making Net Results before taxes of the three companies for 2021 for the second year are at very high levels. After the losses of -€78 million in 2020, another -€72 million is added in 2021.

ATTICA GROUP shows a pre-tax loss in 2021 of -€49.37 million against a profit after tax of -€49.37 million in 2020.

For ANEK LINES, the net results after taxes and minority rights amounted to a loss of -€40.87 million compared to a loss of -€15.1 million in the 2020 financial year.

For MINOIKES, the net results after taxes from continuing operations amounted to a loss of 18.7 million compared to a loss of -€15.4 million in the previous year.

Medium sized companies

In the category, the study by XTRC includes the 3 companies that are active in the area both in main, barren and inter-island lines. Fast Ferries and Levante Ferries operate with chartered ferries throughout the year. Seajets operates most of its high-speed ships only in the high tourist season.

Company	Owned	Routed
SEAJETS	24	16
FAST FERRIES	4	4
LEBANTE FERRIES	6	4
Total	34	24

Smaller Companies

This category includes 22 companies active in the area, mainly in barren and intra-island lines. Reporting is always at fleet level only as these companies do not release financial or other data. The data on the fleets come from the websites of the companies, while the data on the buying and selling of ships comes from the internet and from market sources.

Many of the above companies, despite the fact that they are local in nature, present innovative management structures, adopt privilege card programs, online reservations, Web check in, e-tickets like the larger companies and develop the cruise product. Most of these companies repair or, in some cases, build their ships in Greece, a fact that needs special approval and support from the state and all public bodies. However, a basic condition is the development of a corporate profile in order to be able to raise bank capital.